A Monopoly on Assistance? International Aid to Refugee Camps and the Role of the Diaspora

Peer-reviewed Journal Article

Horst, Cindy (2008) A Monopoly on Assistance? International Aid to Refugee Camps and the Role of the Diaspora, Afrika Spectrum 43(1): 121–131.

​This article focuses on the neglected role of assistance provided by refugees themselves within the framework of international aid practices in long-term refugee camps. It builds on earlier work that argues that international aid systems that provide emergency aid or technical assistance to refugees fail to respect the complex gift-giving norms in refugee communities (see for example the pioneering work done by Harrell-Bond et al. 1992, 1994, 2002). I maintain that it is important to look not only at social norms of giftgiving, but also at actual and current social practices within refugee communities.